From Arthurs to Wright, where will your favourite Osgoode dean rank?
“Look to your left, look to your right…”: the classic go-to of any law dean’s welcome address to the incoming students. Historically the saying would end, “one of you won’t be here by the end of the year,” an attempt to underline the cutthroat, competitive nature of law school. That said, deans have adapted and varied the line over the years. While giving the welcome speech is an important part of a dean’s functions, they do much more than that.
“Deans aren’t like Presidents of the United States, they’re administrators. They don’t have that much impact on the school,” remarked an Osgoode administrative staff member to me while doing research for this piece. Respectfully, deans are more than just administrators: they are the spiritual leader of the school, the public face of the faculty, the introducer of events, and responsible for shepherding a generation of legal minds.
Motivated by Dean Sossin’s reappointment as dean for a second term, it is worth looking back at Osgoode’s past deans and reflecting on their tenures. Often respected intellectuals and leaders in their area of expertise, comparing Osgoode’s deans to one another seems like an impossible task. But just as the bell curve must be applied to dubiously rank students relative to one another, these decanal rankings are no different.
Methodology
Only full-time deans of Osgoode were considered for this list, including the deans of the school when it was located in downtown Toronto. Meaning that the principals of the law school that existed pre-1923, or any interim or acting deans, were not included. Deans were judged on the dual and equally weighted criteria of legacy to Osgoode and personal awesomeness.
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Honourable Mention: Lorne Sossin
Nickname: The Soss-boss
Term: 2010–present
“Look to your left, look to your right, you’ll be best friends forever!”
It would be unfair to rank the current dean while his term is still ongoing, so he’s being placed in the honourable mention category. A wizard of administrative law, the affable and well-liked Dean Sossin has worked hard to foster the image of Osgoode as a friendly place. Some of his accomplishments so far have been to expand the school’s international connections, the appointment of a wellness and health coordinator, and the creation of the artist-in-residence program.
That said, Dean Sossin also faces a number of challenges: high tuition and corresponding debt levels, and the availability of articling positions, to name a few. With a full term ahead of him, Dean Sossin has lots of time to cement his place in Osgoode dean history, perhaps taking a few lessons from his predecessors.
12: Stanley Beck
Nickname: Dean Who?
Term: 1977–1982
“Look to you left, look to your right, one of you might remember who I am.”
Someone has to be at the bottom of the curve, and unfortunately for Dean Beck, he falls into that role. Not because of any personal failing or terrible performance, but despite extensive research, I could not find the remotest hint of Dean Beck doing anything at Osgoode. In any event, Dean Beck is an expert in corporate governance and securities law, and post-deanship would serve as the Chair of the Ontario Securities Commission. He still practices in commercial and labour mediation.
11: James MacPherson
Nickname: The Controversy Magnet
Term: 1988–1993
“Look to your left, look to your right, one of you is going to give me a huge headache.”
Dean MacPherson’s term was plagued with controversy. Osgoode was making the news but for all the wrong reasons. During his tenure, a human rights complaint was filed alleging sex discrimination in the passing over of Professor Mary Jane Mossman for the role of dean. He also had to defend Osgoode’s admissions policies when the Obiter Dicta published an inflammatory anonymous letter claiming Osgoode had too many black students.
Things weren’t all bad for Dean MacPherson. Osgoode celebrated its 100-year anniversary under his tenure and all the controversy pushed Osgoode to institutionally develop more critical-thinking scholarship. MacPherson would leave Osgoode to join the judiciary and currently sits as a Justice on the Ontario Court of Appeal.
10: Cecil Augustus Wright
Nickname: Caesar
Term: 1948–1949
“Look to your left, look to your right, you’re probably going to be here longer than me.”
Wright only served a short term as Dean of Osgoode before he and other prominent faculty members (one of them being, as he was then, Professor Bora Laskin) resigned in a huff in response to plans from the Law Society to maintain the apprenticeship model of law school rather than commit to full time legal education. Dean Wright would leave to start the law school at the University of Toronto, beginning the historic rivalry between Osgoode and U of T.
Dean Wright earned the nickname “Caesar” for being an intimidating professor, known for his harsh use of the Socratic Method. He was also a fierce legal education reformer, and hoped to change Osgoode from what was then a part-time program into a full-time program. Wright would get the last laugh as eventually the Law Society capitulated and law school became the fulltime endeavour that we know today.
9. Peter Hogg
Nickname: The Constitution Whisperer
Term: 1998–2003
“Look to your left, look to your right, none of you will be more famous than me.”
Perhaps some will take issue with the relatively low placement of Dean Hogg, the leading expert on the Canadian Constitution. His appointment as dean certainly brought prestige to Osgoode and helped cement Osgoode’s reputation as a leader in Constitutional law. He also was able to bring in a not insignificant amount of business investment to the school and oversaw an overhaul of the school’s curriculum. That said, his decanal accomplishments seem underwhelming compared to his greater academic and legal contributions, with his deanship of Osgoode merely a footnote to his quite spectacular legal career.
- Allan Leal
Nickname: The Downtowner
Term: 1958–1966
“Look to your left, look to your right, you will be last to do so in downtown Toronto.”
Dean Leal was the last dean of the law school while it remained in its downtown campus, though he shouldn’t be blamed for the move north. Leal was a staunch believer that the law school should have remained downtown—in order to maintain its connection to the Courts and the legal community—and would end up resigning his position after the Law Society made its decision.
He faced a number of challenges as dean, including a rapidly changing legal profession and dealing with one of the many “articling crises” that seem to never go away. Dean Leal did much to restore the intellectual reputation of the law school: the Osgoode Law Journal was founded under his tenure. Leal would go on to have a distinguished career as legal reformer and civil servant.
- John Falconbridge
Nickname: The First Dean
Term: 1923–48
“Look to your left, look to your right, one of you won’t be here by the end of the year.”
Serving twenty-five years, Dean Falconbridge was the first and longest serving dean of Osgoode Hall Law School (previously, heads of the law school were called principals). His tenure was dedicated to creating the first real law school in Ontario with full-time professors and mandatory courses. And if that wasn’t itself a difficult enough of a task, Falconbridge was dean during the Great Depression and World War II; his steady hand was valued for steering the law school through a tumultuous period in world history.
- Patrick Monahan
Nickname: Hardhat Pat
Term: 2003–2009
“Look to your left, look to your right, don’t mind the construction.”
Monahan oversaw a seemingly never-ending series of renovations at Osgoode. While annoying the student body at the time, the renovations have paid off and transformed the drab and dreary building into one with windows and natural lighting. While a huge accomplishment, Dean Monahan loses points for also overseeing the doubling of tuition form $8,000 to $16,000 over his tenure. He currently acts as the Deputy Attorney General for Ontario.
5. John McCamus
Nickname: Johnny Mac
Term: 1982–1987
“Look to your left, look to your right, one of those individuals is likely a woman.”
Dean McCamus, the king of contracts and restitution, was dean during a time of great social and legal change. Dean of the law school in the Charter-era, for the first time, the entering class was over 50% female and computers were introduced into the school. But his ranking is truly reflective of McCamus’ permanency: since 1971 the former dean has taught nearly 45 years of students at Osgoode. During his decades of teaching, McCamus also found the time to contribute to many legal reform initiatives and currently is Chair of Legal Aid Ontario.
- Marilyn Pilkington
Nickname: The Fiscal Maven
Term: 1993–1998
“Look to your left, look to your right, if you find any change please bring it up to the front”
Dean Pilkington has the distinction of being the first female dean of a law school in Ontario. A well-liked professor of constitutional law and evidence, the Aboriginal Law Intensive, the Osgoode Business Clinic, and the Innocence Project would start during her tenure. This is all the more remarkable given that the school was facing massive funding cuts that were hardly noticed given Pilkington’s financial savvy. Her big contribution is the creation of the Osgoode Professional Development Program, which continues to be a huge money-maker for the school. She would remain with the faculty until retiring in 2013.
- Gerald Le Dain
Nickname: The Unlikely Hero
Term: 1966–1972
“Look to your left, look to your right, this is York University.”
The choice of Le Dain as dean was an inspired choice given he had to unite a divided faculty and student body still unsure how to feel about the move from downtown to York University. Important Osgoode institutions such as CLASP and Parkdale would open under his tenure. While dean, he was tasked with leading the Commission on the Non-Medical Use of Drugs, which would ultimately recommend the decriminalization of marijuana possession, causing Le Dain to become a popular figure on University campuses across Canada. Of course, Le Dain probably rose the highest of any dean in Osgoode history, as he would later be appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada.
- Harry Arthurs
Nickname: The Iconoclast
Term: 1972–1977
“Look to your left, look to your left again.”
A leading expert on labour law, Dean Arthurs was never shy to speak his mind and always had something to say. Arthurs represented the quintessential dean to represent the York-era of Osgoode’s history, contributing to its reputation for social justice. The first female full-time faculty members were hired under Arthurs: Professor Arbour and Professor Mossman. The first-of-their-kind joint degree programs—the JD/MBA and JD/MES—were established, and so was the Intensive Program in Criminal Law.
But the defining moment of Arthurs’ deanship might be his defending the right for the law school to remain being called Osgoode Hall. The Law Society not unreasonably felt that having two Osgoode Halls might be confusing, and was not quite sure this new “Osgoode Hall” up at York was doing the brand any favours. The rest is, of course, history, and to this day people are perennially confused as to where Osgoode Hall Law School is located. Arthurs would later serve as President of York University.
- Dean Smalley-Baker
Nickname: The Nicknamer
Term: 1944–1958
“Look to your left, look to your right, now let’s party!”
The controversial top spot goes to a controversial figure. By all accounts, Dean Smalley-Baker was a horrible professor; while he was born in Canada, he was trained in England and knew nothing of Canadian law. He was also an alcoholic and eventually required others take over his classes as he was physically unable to continue.
However, Dean Smalley-Baker was the right dean for when the school needed him most. Reeling from the sudden departure of Dean Wright, school spirits were flagging. The dean worked hard to revive morale and pushed for the creation of sport teams, clubs, and fraternities for Osgoode students. He revived the Legal and Literary society, and was known for making jovial speeches. He also would take to giving nicknames to the graduating class, a tradition unfortunately abandoned by his successors (hint, hint Dean Sossin): “Pioneer Guards,” “Third Legion,” “York Volunteers,” and “Eighth Dragoons” are a few examples of his handiwork. For keeping the school together at its lowest point, Dean Smalley-Baker rises to the top of the decanal class.
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Osgoode has a legacy of fairly remarkable persons occupying the position of dean. More than just administrators, the deans are an important part of Osgoode’s history. Did your favourite dean rank where you thought they would? Let the Obiter Dicta know your rankings at obiterdicta@osgoode.yorku.ca or www.obiter-dicta.com.